


All The World's a Stage

by DrowningInStarlight



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 20:30:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17732138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrowningInStarlight/pseuds/DrowningInStarlight
Summary: For the first time since leaving the carnival behind, Mollymauk meets a circus.





	All The World's a Stage

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to the breath you take before performing, and the moment you realise all your friends are crazy and that's okay.

At one of the villages they stopped at, there was a circus. 

It felt like forever since Mollymauk had seen people performing. The others had scattered as soon as they'd parked the cart, but Molly didn't move. Caleb wanted more ink, so he'd disappeared with Nott-- maybe to buy it, maybe to steal it, it's always fifty-fifty with them. Fjord was after healing potions, although Molly doubted he'd have much luck in a place this small. Beau had gone with him. Jester had caught the smell of pasties as they'd driven in, so she'd gone bakery hunting. That just left Yasha, who stood next to him as he started across the village square at the little circus. 

"You wanna watch?" Molly asked, nodding towards the performers setting up on the cobblestones. 

Yasha shook her head. "We left that behind. You'll just make yourself feel bad." 

Molly shrugged. 

_"Molly."_

Gods, he missed hearing that tone when she wasn't there. She was standing with her hands at her hips, staring at him with the kind of resigned fondness he she reserved for him alone. 

He hugged her suddenly. Face against her shoulder, he said "You go. I'll be fine." 

"I'll go find Jester," Yasha said, patting his back awkwardly, a gesture only comforting from its familiarity. "Come find me if you need me." 

"I'll be here," he said, pulling back. "And, you know, same goes for you. Always." 

She smiled. The next moment, she was gone. Of all the shows Mollymauk had ever seen, Yasha was the true disappearing act. 

He stood back and watched the circus. 

 

__ 

 

Yasha had been right. He'd known that she would be, but just because something would make him feel bad had never been enough to put him off before. He'd been feeling _bad_ ever since he'd woken coughing up dirt, and he was starting to suspect for a long time before that. At this point, he was used to it. 

The soft sadness was still a little surprising, though, he'd admit. It stung like the cold little waves that lapped over his feet when he went paddling in rivers along the road. He'd stand and let the water flow around him, watching as it danced downstream. The water always forgave him for the things he didn't remember, changing shape from moment to moment, free as the wind. He leant against the little stone wall at the edge of the square and let the sadness flow through him too. 

This circus was awful. They didn't even have a tent, and Molly could tell they were thanking the gods for the sunshine. They'd be in trouble when the weather broke, though, and Molly had spent many hours wandering around in the rain promising people the shelter of a circus tent. No audience would appreciate being left out in the rain. 

The juggler was off-balance, always a heartbeat away from dropping her rag-balls. Sometimes that could be a convincing act, something to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, but judging by the blind panic in her face, that was not the case this time. The ringmaster had potential, Molly had to admit, but he lacked confidence. Part of carnival life is learning to perform to a stony audience, warming them up with your wit and charm. This boy was always looking down, preferring the ground to the sharp eyes of the nine or ten townspeople who'd gathered. 

_Look up_ , Molly wanted to shout. _Look up, and make them listen to you. Make them respect you! This is your world, own it!_

He was busy thinking up a rant for the magician, who kept glancing to the side, searching for a prompter who clearly wasn't there-- _It's fine to script your patter, but by all the gods don't make it look like you've scripted your patter!_ \-- when a blue whirlwind landed on the wall next to him, smelling of cinnamon. 

He looked up, it was Jester. She had a paper box in her hands, and passed to it him while she scrambled up onto the wall. Taking it back, she opened it and offered it to him. 

"Cinnamon swirl? They're _so good_ , the baker said they're this village's speciality." 

"Don't mind if I do," Molly said. The sticky pastry smelled incredible, but he cast his eyes back towards the little circus. 

Jester followed his gaze, silent for a moment. That juggler was back again, and her throws were even more erratic this time, although her poker face was better, Molly noted. He wondered how long the circus had been running, who was the manager, and oh look now she's tripped and the balls have gone flying. Well, the audience will get a laugh out of it, anyway... 

"These guys are awful," he said. 

"Do you miss it?" Jester asked. 

He glanced at her. People underestimated Jester, but she was smart. A natural performer. She would have _thrived_ in the circus. 

"Well, the food was always shitty," he began. "And tents are just the worst to live in full time. We got kicked out of places a lot. Damp. People snored, and everyone got snappy when it was performance night, and... Yeah. I miss it." 

"It sounds like it was fun." 

"Yeah, it was. Sometimes. It was the only home I've ever known. It's weird to not be there anymore." The only home he ever _remembered_ \-- no. Mollymauk Tealeaf's home was the circus, and now it was the Mighty Nein. There was nothing else. 

"Mhm, I get it," Jester said speculatively. "I only knew my mother's home before coming out here. It's like, there's suddenly so much to do and see and _be_ , but there's a still a part of you that just wants to curl up at home." 

He nodded, and put an arm around her shoulders. "What are we doing here?" 

"Eating pastries? Or like, this village, because I'm pretty sure we're here because Caleb wouldn't stop talking about ink and Fjord was getting ansty 'cause we used up all our healing potions--" She gave a little giggle. "You don't have to miss the circus, Molly, 'cause we're basically a circus all on our own. Just less, you know, professional." 

Molly laughed too. It was true, in a way, certainly. 

 

__ 

 

They sat on the wall and ate pastries til the circus packed up and the rest of the Mighty Nein returned. Yasha touselled Molly's head, which he tolerated for a moment before stepping away and sorting his hair out. As the others climbed back into the cart, he hung back. 

"Did you send Jester to come and find me?" he asked Yasha. 

She shrugged. "You weren't going to accept company from anyone else. Jester's hard to say no to."

"That's... fair," he conceded. Before he could say anything else, Nott stuck her head up over the cart's edge. 

"Molly, Yasha, you two might want to..." she paused. "Hurry up a little, perhaps?" 

"Oh _no_ ," Molly said. "What did you and Caleb do?" 

"It was not anything to do with me!" Caleb protested, putting his hands up. "This time, I just wanted to buy. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for my little green friend." 

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Nott said, stepping back to let Molly and Yasha onto the cart. "It was just so shiny, and dangling right there..." 

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Molly said breezily, climbing up to the front of the cart where Beau was driving. "What's life without a little excitement? Go, Beau! Onwards!" 

The cart rumbled off down the track. Behind them, crownsguard began to pour out of the guardhouse, but all they'd catch of the Mighty Nein was their laughter on the wind.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm only about twenty episodes into critical role so no spoilers in the comments, thanks! I adore all other kinds of comments, though :D


End file.
